There may not be a player in the history of basketball that needs the disclaimer “you needed to see him” more than Greg Oden.
He was Deandre Ayton before Deandre Ayton, a 7-foot freak of nature that had the tools to be a shoe-in Hall of Fame center before his body gave out on him.
Anyone that saw him carry Ohio State to the 2007 national title game would agree.
The same can probably be said for Jimmer Fredette, who set the world ablaze during the 2010-2011 season, when he averaged nearly 30 points while bombing deep three after deep three for a BYU team that spent the year in the top ten and battled it out with Kawhi Leonard’s San Diego State team for Mountain West supremacy.
And over the weekend, Jimmer and Oden faced off on national television, Oden suiting up for Scarlet & Gray -- an Ohio State alumni team -- while Jimmer was on the aptly-named Team Fredette.
Jimmer won, going for 28 points and seven assists just two days after he dropped 41 points to beat Ft. Wayne.
It’s a perfect example of what makes TBT such a great event for hoop heads and college basketball nerds.
Not only are these rosters flush with the stars of yesteryear, but it is a high level of basketball played by guys with some star power on the fringes of the NBA.
And in a time where all we have to watch on TV are reruns and baseball (gross), it couldn’t be any better.
Team Fredette advanced to the semifinals of TBT with a win over Oden’s team. The winner of the tournament gets a $2 million grand prize.